It's a fine battle, in the style PC2 does so well. The swarming aircraft meant it hit the difficulty goldilocks zone, if only just barely. it's pretty easy but not too (unlike the last few). Play balance still off.
6 turns in. I'm supposed "Render aid to surviving characters." Um. LIKE WHAT???? THEY JUST SIT AROUND LIKE POTATOES AND DON'T ASK FOR ANYTHING. So I might as well put 'em to work. The civilians now capture flags in areas I know are secured.
Poland falls... with spoilers.
Moderator: Panzer Corps 2 Moderators
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
Note that the rewards at the airfields fenced off with dotted lines are worth the effort. You probably don't want to assault the city across the river anyway so you'll be on that side of the river already. The prestige rewards seem kinda high but then I'm playing "Trophies of War," and have banked so much prestige it's not an issue. Had I made it this far last time I might have found it to be about right, don't know.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
9 Kampinoska Forest. The briefing and the map are interesting. Just underway, and the potatoes speak! They need help. OK, hopefully this ends up the kind of scenario that earns the name "Stories."
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
Pretty easy. The 5 characters are there, but only to be rescued. They don't talk much except to ask for rescue.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
10 Escape from Warsaw. This is an interesting map and an interesting mission. In this campaign, when the situation report says "large enemy force" there's a decent chance it's nearly infinite. Besides that, clearing the map would be a gamey way to play it even if possible.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
This was the best scenario of the campaign so far. The civilians actually DO something. The enemies, at least to the Southwest, are numerous. Not so numerous to the northeast but I'd expect they'll keep spawning til they wear you down.
One thing that would have made it better (and harder): exit all 5 characters before you link up.
One thing that would have made it better (and harder): exit all 5 characters before you link up.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
11. Kowel. And now, the Soviets.
The briefing was good. The absence of any communication, and the statement from Comrade Molotov post-Warsaw, were good, economical storytelling.
Given that the mission is to eliminate Soviet units, the map doesn't tell me much before it starts. No airbases so I everyone is overstrength and I brought out all my reserves.
The briefing was good. The absence of any communication, and the statement from Comrade Molotov post-Warsaw, were good, economical storytelling.
Given that the mission is to eliminate Soviet units, the map doesn't tell me much before it starts. No airbases so I everyone is overstrength and I brought out all my reserves.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
I decided the best thing i can do is bring the characters to the center and then circle the wagons, and once a perimeter is established send out hunter/killer groups. So I used the extra slots from my 3 fighters and 1 attack plane and converted all infantry to Uhlans. I figured the speed will matter.
The characters are massively weakened so I expect keeping them alive is meant to be a challenge.
The mission says "eliminate 5 vanguard units." I assume these are special units and one must wade through lots of Soviet units to find them. Now, to see what happens...
The characters are massively weakened so I expect keeping them alive is meant to be a challenge.
The mission says "eliminate 5 vanguard units." I assume these are special units and one must wade through lots of Soviet units to find them. Now, to see what happens...
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
Yep the vanguard units are clearly labelled. And tough.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
This was somewhat difficult, but it's mostly my fault for being overly aggressive. Don't worry, the 5 vanguard units will come to *you*.
A good scenario, and has a more narrative feel.
A good scenario, and has a more narrative feel.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
13 Lwow. A big, sprawling map, a large force, and a mission to escort convoy's of gold to Romania. Oh yeah and massed Soviet forces in the northeast. This looks like a fine final battle. As usual, the characters start out imperiled. This time there are only the 3 military characters. As usual, not a damn word about what the other 2 are up to, even though I know they survived. This adds yet again to the feeling that this is a half-finished campaign that could have been great.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
One thing about this run: fate has been very kind to me. I have very few useless heroes. Almost all suit my preferred style of play. This has happened, oh, maybe once? On a grand campaign like AO I don't choose 'killer team,' but on a short campaign I *always* do.
While a lot of players may scoff at this as a "noob trap" etc... I find very few hero types are completely useless and I don't remember ever drawing all useless heroes. I like heroes, they give the units a bit of personality, not just by attaching a face to it but by shaping how it fights.
Killer team or no killer team? Depends on how you approach the game. I tend to set up a small number of ultra-elite units, with 4 good heroes whose skills complement each other. These units are the first core units to max out the strength. I concentrate heroes generally rather than distribute them. I also use overstrength units rather than larger numbers of units. This means my units have to be highly mobile otherwise they'll be hopeless in defense. This means mostly mechanized units. Infantry are in trucks, and roughly same in number as tanks. I don't use halftracks. They're slow, and I never put infantry units in a position where they're going to be attacked while driving.
I also don't use AAA Veteran. I think it's overpowered, but so is the one where your units can dismount and shoot right away. The reason I don't use AAA veteran is there is always something I want more, even if I use all 10 slots. In practice I DO use AAA units, especially if 88s are available. But I also use fighters. They're not useless once you achieve air supremacy, they're good at dinging entrenchments.
I really like the way PC2 lets you choose your doctrine. The point of describing mine isn't "oh look this is the best way to play." Quite the opposite. The point is, one can play a very different way and get as good or better results, you have the option of shaping your forces and tactics to suit how YOU think things should be done.
While a lot of players may scoff at this as a "noob trap" etc... I find very few hero types are completely useless and I don't remember ever drawing all useless heroes. I like heroes, they give the units a bit of personality, not just by attaching a face to it but by shaping how it fights.
Killer team or no killer team? Depends on how you approach the game. I tend to set up a small number of ultra-elite units, with 4 good heroes whose skills complement each other. These units are the first core units to max out the strength. I concentrate heroes generally rather than distribute them. I also use overstrength units rather than larger numbers of units. This means my units have to be highly mobile otherwise they'll be hopeless in defense. This means mostly mechanized units. Infantry are in trucks, and roughly same in number as tanks. I don't use halftracks. They're slow, and I never put infantry units in a position where they're going to be attacked while driving.
I also don't use AAA Veteran. I think it's overpowered, but so is the one where your units can dismount and shoot right away. The reason I don't use AAA veteran is there is always something I want more, even if I use all 10 slots. In practice I DO use AAA units, especially if 88s are available. But I also use fighters. They're not useless once you achieve air supremacy, they're good at dinging entrenchments.
I really like the way PC2 lets you choose your doctrine. The point of describing mine isn't "oh look this is the best way to play." Quite the opposite. The point is, one can play a very different way and get as good or better results, you have the option of shaping your forces and tactics to suit how YOU think things should be done.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
The "Render aid to surviving characters" objective remains supremely annoying. Uh, I know what to do if they're not even on the map, but what if they don't ask for anything?
This could be solved very easily by having them speak up at the beginning of the scenario and *not* ask for anything specific, just so you know they're there and you didn't miss anything.
This could be solved very easily by having them speak up at the beginning of the scenario and *not* ask for anything specific, just so you know they're there and you didn't miss anything.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
This was a good one, and very straightforward, as expected.
I made 2 big mistakes: I brought the train and I brought my air units. They were both liabilities ultimately. The Soviets advance in such numbers that Lwow falls pretty quick, my (successful) plan was run like hell and get past Lwow before they get there.
Then you meet a tank brigade at the exit zone. Mmmmaybe you can sneak 2 trucks in without destroying them all, but I ended up having to destroy all. Supertank came in mighty handy here.
Upon finishing I saw the map was almost empty of Soviet units. This is a bit disappointing and suggests most of the tension of the scenario was in my mind. I hope they keep feeding more in, like Mlawa, but I don't know. There are a lot of infantry units remaining, digging in at Lwow. However, if this is all there is it'd be pretty straightforward to clear the map. This is not a scenario where that *should* be possible. I hope that, if you decide to grind it out rather than do a runner, Soviet reinforcements pile on. I don't know though I was done in 10 (of 24).
I made 2 big mistakes: I brought the train and I brought my air units. They were both liabilities ultimately. The Soviets advance in such numbers that Lwow falls pretty quick, my (successful) plan was run like hell and get past Lwow before they get there.
Then you meet a tank brigade at the exit zone. Mmmmaybe you can sneak 2 trucks in without destroying them all, but I ended up having to destroy all. Supertank came in mighty handy here.
Upon finishing I saw the map was almost empty of Soviet units. This is a bit disappointing and suggests most of the tension of the scenario was in my mind. I hope they keep feeding more in, like Mlawa, but I don't know. There are a lot of infantry units remaining, digging in at Lwow. However, if this is all there is it'd be pretty straightforward to clear the map. This is not a scenario where that *should* be possible. I hope that, if you decide to grind it out rather than do a runner, Soviet reinforcements pile on. I don't know though I was done in 10 (of 24).
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
Scenario 14: Tomasow Lubelski
I read elsewhere that there are 14 scenarios. This is a big map and I think the main mission is to aid the 2 civilian characters. Steal the fuel etc is just a way to end the scenario.
The 3 military characters are not in this scenario, presumably their arc is wrapped. I expect some sort of epilogue for each of the 5 after this scenario, given that the campaign is called "war stories."
I read elsewhere that there are 14 scenarios. This is a big map and I think the main mission is to aid the 2 civilian characters. Steal the fuel etc is just a way to end the scenario.
The 3 military characters are not in this scenario, presumably their arc is wrapped. I expect some sort of epilogue for each of the 5 after this scenario, given that the campaign is called "war stories."
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
This was about as difficult as a final battle should be. Big map, 35(!) turns to do the job. The 2 civilians can be reinforced if they take damage. I get the impression that, while they want you to work to close out the campaign, the developers don't want you to lose at this point.
This is a map you can clear if you're so inclined. I didn't, but came close without trying much. You get close to the 2 zones the civilians have to reach and they'll come at you. Crawl closer slowly--you have time--and let them come at you a few at a time or it might get a little bit hairy.
This is a map you can clear if you're so inclined. I didn't, but came close without trying much. You get close to the 2 zones the civilians have to reach and they'll come at you. Crawl closer slowly--you have time--and let them come at you a few at a time or it might get a little bit hairy.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
15 1939 Cernauti.
You move the gold truck, presumably to trigger the epilogue. You get a hero this turn. This is a bit odd. I hope it means there will be a France campaign in some form that we can import our core into. The map doesn't look like it's for fighting. I don't see any enemies, unless you're declaring war on Romania (bad idea, your forces are without a country for a few years).
You move the gold truck, presumably to trigger the epilogue. You get a hero this turn. This is a bit odd. I hope it means there will be a France campaign in some form that we can import our core into. The map doesn't look like it's for fighting. I don't see any enemies, unless you're declaring war on Romania (bad idea, your forces are without a country for a few years).
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
There's a deployment zone. And more slots than I have forces, including reserves, and I didn't lose any core units. Curiouser and curiouser.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
It's basically a victory lap/epilogue. The 5 characters are spaced along the map so that you talk to one each turn.
No need for any of your core units to move or even be on the map, they don't do anything. You just drive a truck. This is fine, as it's meant to be each character giving their epilogue.
No need for any of your core units to move or even be on the map, they don't do anything. You just drive a truck. This is fine, as it's meant to be each character giving their epilogue.
Re: Poland falls... with spoilers.
That's all the steam achievements unlocked until Westwall LOL.
I'll sum up my impressions later but the campaign started out rather badly (not only in the way it was supposed to but in terms of feeling half-finished and not ready for release) but the second half of the campaign was pretty good. I'll probably replay it at some point.
I'll sum up my impressions later but the campaign started out rather badly (not only in the way it was supposed to but in terms of feeling half-finished and not ready for release) but the second half of the campaign was pretty good. I'll probably replay it at some point.